The President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, CMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has called on the Federal Government and stakeholders in the health sector to play their respective roles in the full implementation of the National Health Act, NHA, for the good of all.
Enabulele made the in call a keynote address themed: ‘’ Implementation of The National Health Act: The Bedrock for Improving the Nigerian Health Sector’’, during the opening ceremony of the National Executive Council meeting of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors,
NARD, in Abuja. Acknowledging the efforts of non-state actors, the 8th National Assembly, and the Federal Government, that ensured the allocation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund in the 2018 Appropriation Act as well as its subsequent disbursement, Enabulele, however, stated that there were still many other significant provisions of the National Health Act yet to be given concrete expression.
“These include the provision of the prescribed quality requirements and Certificate of Standards aimed at quality regulation and standardisation of operations in the health sector; the development of an appropriate and strategic health human resource development plan; adherence to the provisions restricting the utilization of public funds for unwarranted foreign medical travels by public officers; the practical activation of the prescribed functions of the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee; as well as the establishment of the Emergency Medical Treatment Committee and activation of its prescribed functions, amongst other provisions yet to be implemented.”
Going down memory lane on what led to the prescription of 5 percent of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund for Emergency Medical Treatment during the Senate Public hearing held on Monday, February 11, 2013, Enabulele who played a major role in the push for the enactment of the National Health Act, regretted the misinterpretation and misapplication of this provision of the NHA, which he averred was specifically meant for the reimbursement of healthcare providers who offered emergency medical treatment to clients/patients.
He stated that it was never meant to promote procurements and purchases of ambulances which ordinarily ought to be budgeted for by the Federal Ministry of Health and its relevant agencies. He, therefore, called for an urgent review of the implementation framework of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund.
While urging NARD and other non-state actors and stakeholders to play more active roles in the implementation of the NHA, Enabulele informed that the first requirement needed for them and other stakeholders to play their roles was the acquisition of appropriate information and knowledge of the contents of the NHA.
He called for capacity building and information dissemination on the basic provisions of the National Health Act. “This will empower the citizens to demand the expression of their health rights as well as accountability and transparency in the implementation of NHA. “You can only demand accountability and expression of your health rights if you know what is contained in the National Health Act. You cannot demand it if you lack knowledge of its contents.
So, to prevent the NHA from going the way of the Child Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act, it is important that you get informed and build your capacity to engage those in government’’.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, decried the death of three doctors in the aftermath of the Lassa fever outbreak in Kano.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee and President, Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, FCTA, Dr. Rowland Aigbovo appealed to the Minister of Health to assist in the realisation of the National Health Act. ‘’ We want to appeal to the Minister of Health to help expedite the full implementation of the National Health Act.
The Act was signed into law about six years ago to serve as a legal framework for the regulation, development, and management of our health system. The NHA was meant to set a standard for the delivery of health care to all citizens’’, he said.
